- Nature & Wildlife
- National Parks & Reserves
- Off the Beaten Track
- Walking Hiking Trekking
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Ireland
- Inspiration
written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 26.03.2019
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written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 26.03.2019
Get up close to nature with our pick of the ten best wildlife sites across the UK, and let us know your own top British wildlife experiences below.
© Michal Lazor/Shutterstock
Ettrick Weir, near Selkirk in Scotland, is one of the best places in the world to witness one of nature’s greatest phenomena: the spectacular salmon leap. Each autumn thousands of salmon make the arduous journey from as far away as Greenland back to the gravel beds where they were born at the upper end of the Ettrick River, a tributary of the Tweed. So determined are they to reach their destination that they will leap over any obstacle in their way – an awesome muscular display. You can enjoy a salmon’s-eye view of it at the Philiphaugh Salmon Viewing Centre, which has an underwater camera to catch the takeoffs.
© Giedriius/Shutterstock
Though it clings on in Scotland, the much-loved red squirrel remains in catastrophic decline across much of England and Wales: the larger grey now outnumbers the native species by twenty to one. To arrest its demise, numerous reserves have been set up across the country; the densely forested Widdale Squirrel Reserve in Yorkshire is one of the best, with a special viewing area set up for you to admire the fluffy-tailed beauties as they feed. The nine-mile Snaizeholme Trail crosses delightful Dales countryside to the viewpoint from the Wensleydale town of Hawes.
© Erni/Shutterstock
With its long legs, distinctive pied colouring and elegant upward-curving beak, the avocet is perhaps behind only the mute swan as the most graceful of our native bird species; indeed its comely looks have made it world-famous as the emblem of the RSPB. There’s no better place to watch these beautiful waders than on the Scrape, a man-made lagoon at Minsmere RSPB reserve in Suffolk, where about a hundred pairs nest annually each spring. While you’re here, listen out for the distinctive boom of the bittern, Britain’s rarest bird – Minsmere’s reedbeds shelter around 30 percent of the UK’s breeding population.
Share your own favourite British wildlife experiences below.
Top image © Richard Evans/Shutterstock
written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 26.03.2019
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